My apologies for no update last week. I was roughly 95% done with the mini so it didn’t make sense to show something so close to being done until it was truly finished. Since I was quiet last week, this update will be a bit longer than usual as there is plenty to say. Let’s discuss the Knight-Judicator first though. Its a relief to get this project done and it unsurprisingly took way longer than I expected too. Games Workshop’s images of this mini make it look small but its barely smaller than Bastian Carthalos who I painted a while back and took a similar amount of time. GW’s minis are definitely creeping upwards in size which is both good and bad, I suppose. Either way, let’s take a look at the finished product.
So a big part of what took so long to finish this mini was the basing. I wanted to try something new and do some kind of environment I’ve never done before. This isn’t a proper jungle base though it is some kind of a humid forest. Maybe like the Pacific Northwest in the US? Its been a number of years since I visited so I can’t say with any certainty. Either way, I put quite a bit of thought into the basing and decided to use some 3D printed products from Epic Basing. I’ve not used very much 3D printed stuff before and I don’t own a 3D printer but I was pretty impressed with the quality. It definitely opens up what you can do with your bases in a way that “traditional” modeling materials do not. I have avoided a 3D printer because I just want to paint and it seems like 3D printers take more know-how and maintenance than I want to put into it, but I am more tempted by them after trying Epic Basing’s products.
Having said that, and I know this is going to cause some controversy amongst a few regular commenters, by using Epic Basing’s products, I think this mini may not be eligible for entry in the Golden Demon. The thought entered my mind before using the 3D printed products and I’m not too bothered about it. This mini is not perfect and has some inconsistencies that likely would keep it from doing really well in Golden Demon. The 3D printed plants best fit my vision for the mini too. I looked around at paper plants, GW’s version of ferns, all kinds of stuff, and none of it was as realistic as the 3D printed stuff so that’s what I went with.
The important thing was that I learned a lot from this project and I was able to raise the ceiling on my display projects as well. There’s more to learn and plenty to get better at but this is another step in the journey of being the best hobbyist that I can be. Its also a great feeling to look at this mini and say this is pretty much exactly what I envisioned come to life.
And now for some seemingly random thoughts and events from the last two weeks.
While it was great getting this project done, I had a tough evening recently when I had finished playing Arkham Horror: The Card Game for the first time in a long time. The folding table I was using collapsed along with all the cards I was using and a glass of water. A decent amount of cards got water damaged and my estimate is that it will take about $150 to replace them. For half a second, I thought to myself, is it even worth it to rebuy this stuff? But when I think about how much I enjoy Arkham and how much more I’d like to play it, I think the answer is definitely yes. Its worth it. So that is a “fun” goal I’ll be working on in the coming months.
The crazy thing about this incident is that it could have been way worse. Since it happened, I think to myself, what if that was a bunch of Fallout minis? What would I do then!? Then it isn’t a question of money being “lost”, but a major amount of time and effort instead. All this is to say, I’m getting rid of the folding tables I bought because I don’t trust them to do their job any longer. The last time or two I used them before this incident, I noticed that they seemed to be getting a little flimsier for some reason and so I won’t dare risk this kind of thing happening again. I’ll have to do some research on better options and unfortunately, this probably means minimal analog gaming for me for a little bit unless I get desperate and decide to sit on the floor. What a sight that would be!
Finally, I finished reading Krieg recently and I mostly enjoyed it. I’ve always liked the Death Korps of Krieg because they’re basically WWI soldiers in Warhammer. Their planet, Krieg, was ruined by their leader to prevent heretics from taking control which is obviously the ultimate sign of faith in Warhammer 40k. The novel is quite dour and it has two plot lines which are oddly repetitive to each other. I enjoyed that the book wasn’t just about space marines kicking butt and both plots revolve around hopeless situations where only the Death Korps could have found any success. I hope to paint some Krieg in the future as they’d be quicker than most Warhammer things I paint and there’s a lot you can do with them, especially the old Forge World ones which come in different poses like running into combat but also standing around presumably after combat is over. Reading this book did give me an idea for a diorama which I may or may not do. The idea is simple: a member of the Death Korps visiting or standing over Jurten’s grave on Krieg which is total wasteland. Jurten was the “hero” who sent the planet into an apocalypse to protect it from the Emperor’s enemies. Of course, now that I’ve typed it out, it doesn’t sound like such a bad idea so who knows, maybe I will tackle it one of these days.
There is more to say but I feel that this update is getting plenty long as it is so I’ll stop here and save some of the rest for next week’s update which should be decidedly Fallout.
Kuribo's Painting 
Moss, ferns, mushrooms – yup PNW if not my yard. Excellent job on the basing as well as your painting skills. Did you change something in how you did your pictures? They seem sharper this time and really show off how well you painted this. Maybe because I’m looking at it on my tablet vs a dirty phone screen 😁.
Did you have any difficulty in glueing the 3D printed objects? I have some 3D printed items in my latest project and it seems the glue I use for other resins aren’t working as well this time.
I have avoided buying a 3D printer as I would have to find a level and sturdy place in my house that I could leave it up, not to mention I would rather buy something than go through the learning process and cost of something I would use rarely.
Definitely get a new gaming table!
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Your yard must be something else then. Hopefully it isn’t quite as overgrown as this base! I didn’t do anything differently with the photos though I did think these photos looked very sharp as well which was a nice surprise. A tablet (assuming its quite a bit bigger than your phone could definitely make a difference.
I didn’t have any major trouble. A couple pieces required super glue instead of PVA but most was fine with PVA. The pieces are really tiny and required me holding them down for longer than most things but it was no problem overall.
I know what you mean and I have the same attitude towards 3D printing. It reminds me of pinball strangely. Yes, playing pinball is a hobby in and of itself but if you own a table, keeping the table running and upgrading it becomes a hobby or at least part of that hobby and that is what keeps me from owning one. I don’t have a lot of patience when it comes to mechanical stuff or solving problems like that and I fear that a 3D printer will test my patience in a similar way.
A new gaming table is definitely going to happen. I just need to figure out what can work in the modest space that I have. I need a bigger hobby room more than anything else at this point. Apparently a hobby room can never be big enough!
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Really cool to see this model finished! I think you may be right about 3rd party 3D printed parts making this ineligible for GD. I think it’s only ok if you 3D model them yourself.
Regardless, I’m loving that base, you did an excellent job. I love the look of overgrown ruins, and I’ll be referring to what you did here when I do some next.
Sorry to hear about that folding table incident, that sounds terrible. As you said lucky it wasn’t a bunch of minis.
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Thanks, Nic! I agree with what you’re saying. If I entered this mini in the competition, I’d basically have to hope that the judges don’t notice or care. I wasn’t painting this strictly for the competition thankfully but having said that, it would be nice to be able to enter it after spending two months on it. I guess those are the breaks!
One piece of advice is that if you do a base like this and are planning on painting much of the foliage, you may want to chip away at it instead of trying to knock it all out in one go like I did. I was really tired of painting ferns by the end of this and I should have done one or two a week and it wouldn’t have been so bad.
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Fantastic work on the mini and the base. A great looking figure. 🙂👍
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Thanks for the kind words as always, mate! I look forward to seeing your work again soon as well when you’re ready to get back to it 🙂
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Fantastic finish to the model Jeff, the base looks very natural, for ferns I really like the brass etched ones you can get, as you can really go to town on all the individual fronds. One thing to consider on future basework, how did the model get to the position it’s in, would there be damage to the flora behind him as it’s trampled it’s way through.
Sorry to hear about the trouble with the folding table, and what a pain losing so many cards, can understand wanting to spend the money to replace them with the amount of enjoyment you get from the game.
Sound’s like a cool diorama idea, personally I always liked the Gaunt’s Ghosts books.
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Thanks, Dave! I definitely considered those kinds of fern products but I was worried at how frail and delicate they looked. That is a great point to think about where the mini has been. I was too busy cramming in as much foliage as I could to think about it 🙂 I’ve often thought of doing something like a muddy or snowy battlefield and trying to have realistic footprints so I will put this into practice one of these days!
Yeah, the table incident was a downer to say the least. I’m mostly over it now but it took a couple of days to get there.
As a former GW employee, I’ll take your endorsement of the diorama idea! I haven’t read Gaunt’s Ghosts but I definitely should. I know its one of Black Library’s best selling and well-regarded series. Not to mention that GW has released minis for them!
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My thoughts echo those of Bret. The terrain reminds me of my time in the Seattle and Mt. Rainier area… and I love it. The model is great as always but the terrain really takes it to another level. You have made it much busier than I do but that comes across very natural in the piece and I suspect I have been far too frugal with the plantlife on my bases.
Sorry to hear about your damaged cards but yeah, but better than damage to painted minis.
GW occasionally does deigns that I like. The Krieg guardsmen are one set I quite like thelook of. But grimdark stories really bring me down these days. I am sure you could make a brilliant trench warfare Krieg diorama with some Tyranids….
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Thanks for the kind words as always! Personally, I feel most people don’t put enough foliage on their bases, even when its just gaming stuff. Variety and densely packed foliage really makes a difference.
Krieg finally got a plastic kit from GW that’s a bit cheaper than FW (and I think you might be referring to it) but I think the classic sculpts are great for dioramas. Your idea is an excellent one! I hadn’t considered having them in trenches against a foe like that but it would add a sense of dynamism to be sure. There have been quite a few Krieg in trenches dioramas done already but I haven’t seen any like that. I’ll certainly give it some thought as I figure out my next projects!
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Stunning work mate, that base has come out great really give the impression of a humid forest, and give a lot of story to the piece, I can imaging him hunting down a fearsome beast lining up that killer shot on it. As you said its really picked your game up.
And bad luck on that table man, thats horrible when silly things like that happen.
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Thanks, mate! I’m really glad to hear you say that about the story coming to life. That’s exactly what I was going for. The table was definitely bad luck and all that’s left now is to pick up the pieces so to speak.
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Well I didn’t think that was a long post at all, Jeff! The Knight-Judicator is brilliant now he’s finished! The base really does take it that bit further. What you should have done here is tell a whopping great fib and say that you sculpted all of the flora out of GW greenstuff and it took ages (you can always go back and edit this post accordingly now)! Sorry to hear about the gaming table and the cards but I think we’ve all been in similar situations so I hope you can get everything sorted out. I remember coming in from a game one evening, dropping my box of minis and staying up until about four in the morning repairing some of the damage
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I’m glad you didn’t think it was too long but believe me when I say that this update could have been quite a bit longer 🙂 I like your suggestion about fibbing as well! I could certainly try and enter the miniature and I might get away with it but there’s always a risk with doing that at the same time. I think I have a project that I’m lining up that will not only have zero eligibility concerns but might even outshine this one so we’ll see what the rest of the year brings 🙂
I would imagine so on us all facing disastrous situations like this. If nothing else, I have a sympathetic audience here! *Knocks on wood* I’ve had very few issues with broken miniatures thus far and I hope to not ever have to deal with something like what you described. That sounds very stressful and traumatic! Hopefully you were able to repair the damage that night.
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The Knight is beautifully painted and the basing is excellently crafted. I say screw the GD, paint for yourself and for other gamers and you will be more than satisfied. Sorry about the cardquake – and the ensuing tsunami. That sucks, but on the plus side you’ll never have that problem again and I bet you can scavenge enough new cards at a bargain on ebay or even at a local convention flea market. Anyways, nice post!
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Thank you for the kind words as always, Mark! I can’t see myself ever painting strictly for painting competitions as I know that I won’t have the motivation to finish a demanding project like that unless I love the idea I’ve come up with so I agree.
I also agree wholeheartedly on the table and card situation. It could have been much worse and I’m thankful it wasn’t. It will take some time and money to replace what was damaged but it will be worth it in the end.
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Wow, that miniature is fabulous. Really great. Absolutely. I love everything about it. 😀. Is it displayed somewhere prominently? It ought to be.
Too bad about your cards. Hope you have found a more sturdy table.
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Thanks, Stew! It is at the top of my video game shelf which is not ideal. I need to get a proper display case but haven’t had a chance to do so thus far. One day though, it will happen.
I have found a table that should be much better and isn’t too expensive. Unfortunately, it will probably be a month or two before I can acquire but I’ll try and make due in the meantime.
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Beautiful work here, mate! The model itself looks great as we were seeing in the WIP post, but the greenery of the base really adds both contrast with the red and muted colour that really sets the model off well.
I’m not sure whether the basing material would be a disqualifier in 2023. I know for certain that all sorts of other basing materials and such, both scratchbuilt and from places like Woodlands Scenics and brass etched leaves and so forth traditionally keep popping up on GD winners, so I’d just go with “don’t ask, don’t tell” for the basing stuff if you enter the model into GD.
Now that this one is finished, you can start on another display piece for your own enjoyment and pleasure – as well as some of the lower-stress gaming models that you’ve mentioned that you want to work on.
Ack! Reading your post in one window as I type my comment – that’s pretty awful about the Arkham Horror and table. Not sure what sort of folding table you (were) using, but I’ve got one of these and it’s pretty steady/sturdy, as well as a folding-leg card table for smaller things and also a larger blow-mould table.
https://www.bunnings.com.au/lifetime-4ft-bi-fold-blow-mould-trestle-table_p3192210
https://www.bunnings.com.au/marquee-6ft-trestle-table_p0179437
As you say, at least what was lost was replacable card sets, so it’s “only” money rather than the work and effort put into painted models. And hey – a lot of my early games were on the floor! 🙂
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Thanks for the kind words, mate! I thought the same thing as you on basing products. I swear I’ve seen people use third party products in the past that are recognizable though I could be mistaken. I totally understand GW not wanting you to use third party miniatures or pieces for conversions but the basing requirement seems a little much. Not that they’re asking for my opinion!
I’ve already got a start on some Fallout stuff and its nice to mix it up and do something with lower stakes and that takes less time to complete.
It was certainly a bit of bad luck with the table. Funnily enough, the tables I was using look fairly similar to those but I’m pretty sure they cost more money! At least you guys have some good deals in Oz (even if GW isn’t one of them). I think I’ve found a table that will work a lot better but until I can afford to splash the cash, I may have to get a game in on the floor 😀
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In the old days there was never an issue – even their batrep terrain you’d often see Tamiya barrels and WWII kit bricks and buildings-turned ruins. As they’ve started to make mroe and more of their own products, the “competing” ones have disappeared from view in official publications, though I’m pretty sure some do still sneak into WD in their reader’s models. Basing materials are the kind of thing I can’t see them really trying to enforce – pastes and flocks and even fungus are pretty generic, and a lot of people do sculpt their own mushrooms – and they’re also very easy to overlook for all but the most zealous judge as they’re essentially a “framing device” for the 100% Official Citadel Miniatures model kit… 😀
I’m sure you can manage a game on the floor, or a smaller scale skirmish on the dining room table or even the kitchen bench! No-one will mind, I’m sure…. 😉
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That’s interesting and I appreciate your perspective on how things have changed. I think GW should go all out and really make scenic bases and scenery products with their skill in plastics. Obviously flocks and stuff are never going to be their strength or focus but they could definitely make cool scenic products that people would eagerly buy.
I can certainly get a game going on the floor. My biggest challenge would be my needy and nosey dog who would cause me trouble if she’s in the area. I’d love to use the dining table to play Arkham Horror but I’ve been forbidden from doing so thus far…. 🙂
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It comes as no surprise to me that this mini turned out stellar! Everything from the metal all the way down to that little scabbard looks amazing! Great work Jeff! It looks like you even have shaded areas on the terrain to further enhance the 3D effect.
Speaking of terrain…as one who has traipsed through forests throughout the Pacific Northwest. I’d have to say this is very close to some spots I’ve seen in Oregon. In South Central Alaska there is not much undergrowth, but in Oregon I’ve been surprised just how dense it can be. Ferns can get mighty big here! Great job on that as well!
As for the card table, OUCH! Some cards have plastic coating that save them from the occasional spill. I’ve also managed to douse minis in water and then I had to get rushed to the emergency room to put the electric paddles on my chest! But surprisingly the unvarnished minis came out unscathed. Maybe I was just lucky? A proper gaming table sounds like it’s in your future though! Ikea usually has some good options.
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Thanks, for the kind words, Brian! The Pacific Northwest is beautiful. I’ve only gone once as a child so I don’t know that I fully appreciated it back then. I hope to go back one of these days and maybe even live in that part of the world too.
Unfortunately, these cards do not have any coating and they’re weakened from getting wet. A mini can probably deal with a bit of water much better than a card can truthfully. Some miniatures resist damage better than others too. I’ve noticed GW’s plastics can take a little bit of abuse even unvarnished. I don’t know why that is but its certainly a nice thing to have. A new table is definitely on the cards within the next couple of months. I’m starting to save up for it as we speak! 🙂
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I’ve lived nearly my whole life in the PNW, and can’t say I’ve regretted it. Especially if you like to get out in the nature.
That’s a shame on the cards! But a new table sounds cool and looking forward to seeing what you get! 😃
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In my one trip, that is all we did was get out in nature 🙂 I can understand why though. Crater Lake, Mount Hood, and some of the coast line and waterfalls we saw were all beautiful.
Its funny but for some reason, if I had to guess, I would have said you live in Texas for some reason. I have no idea where I came up with that idea though truthfully! I guess this means you don’t wear a cowboy hat everywhere and go out in public strapped with a gun like I assume everyone in Texas does haha!
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Haha…nope, never even been to Texas! BUT…I’m making plans to go this year! So I can attend ReaperCon …and collect my paycheck…I mean, take in some Painting classes that I’m interested in. Even signed up my Wife and kid for a couple things. Will see how it goes. I’ll have to let you know if everyone wore cowboy hats and was packin!
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I’ve only been to the airport in Dallas so I’m no expert either. The good news is that you can get your cowboy hat ready for ReaperCon so that you’ll fit in! That should be a lot of fun and I’m sure your managers in the Paint Sales department will be glad you’re stopping in from training and professional development too. Its important when doing remote work to keep on those kinds of things.
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I guess I did have a stopover at the airport once, so that counts.I am looking forward to it, we went back and forth quite a bit about it this year. But I’m realizing as I get older, you have to do this stuff while you can!
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Most definitely. It should be a really fun trip for you!
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Every time I see your painted Stormcast I’m more amazed. The richness of the cloak, the depth on the armour… *chef’s kiss. It’s so good!
Tough luck with the card game though. It’s quite ironic that in a fairly niche and expensive hobby, the part that ended up doing the damage was the cheap furniture! It’s good though that you have the resources to replace the damaged cards as it would have been even worse if you’d just had to live with it.
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Thanks, mate! 🙂 You’re too kind. I certainly learned to not skimp on the furniture as doing so probably cost me almost as much as those cheap tables did. I haven’t been able to buy a replacement for them yet but I hope to soon. I’d gladly play any of the games I own at the moment, if I could…
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You could just play a short game on the floor or something I guess, although you’d need to make sure to finish up so you can tidy each evening.
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Absolutely and I’d have to find a way to keep my dog out of the room too. She would step on everything if she got the chance! 🙂
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wow mate!! this fine fellow certainly came up well.
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Cheers, Pat!
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